Description
Book Synopsis`Château Higginson’ is a vivid and absorbing account of one man's efforts to construct a building that would create “a new way for Bostonians—and Americans—to live.” Not only does Henry Lee Higginson (best known for founding the Boston Symphony Orchestra) and his housing gamble come to life, but a whole social class, indeed, all of nineteenth-century urban America, spread themselves before us in the narrative. Perspectives abound. Anecdotes enrich. Details, statistics, and little-known facts amaze. And it is written with elegance, confidence, grace, and wit. `A must-read for any lover of Boston history, any student of American urban history.’ —William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Back Bay and The Lincoln Letter.
Table of ContentsConnecting Threads; Introduction; 1 Landlord Higginson; 2 “Bully Hig”; 3 Money; 4 Water, Water; 5 Hotel Agassiz; 6 The Fairchilds at Large; 7 Father and Son; 8 Horses; 9 Entertainments; 10 Outdoors; 11 Taste; 12 Clover Adams; 13 John Singer Sargent Plays the Piano; 14 The Fairchilds at Home; Acknowledgements; Endnotes; Bibliography; Index.